


An Adversary

by SherbetLemon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dinner, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Implied Sexual Content, Jealous Lance (Voltron), Jealousy, Kissing, Langst, M/M, Making Up, Melodrama, Miscommunication, Picnics, Pining, Post-Canon, Romance, Sexual Tension, Soft Keith (Voltron), petty revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-07-17 01:57:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19944124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherbetLemon/pseuds/SherbetLemon
Summary: After months of pining, Lance was finally ready to ask Keith out! Only problem? In the mere weeks since their hookup, Keith’s decided to get himself a boyfriend.Whatever. That’s fine. Lance doesn’t feel betrayed or anything. And the double date he organises is merely to clear the air and not some kind of attempt at petty revenge. So what if Keith gets a taste of his own medicine? Lance is just demonstrating what he’s missing by flirting with Romelle.Or: Keith fake-dates one of Hunk’s waiters and inadvertently causes mass chaos.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's been two years since I uploaded my first fic so I'm keeping tradition and posting a celebratory fic! Please enjoy~

Lance was excited to see Keith. The kind of excited that gave him a tipsy buzz as he bounced around Hunk’s new ship. The diplomatic cookery team was docked on Earth for once, meaning Lance didn’t even need to take leave from work to see his best friend. That had been exciting in itself, but when Hunk casually mentioned Keith staying with him when his mission ended, the word had taken on a whole new meaning.

It had been a month. Just one singular month. And yet, to Lance, it had been an eternity.

That night. It had ended too soon. Kisses. Touches. Sweetness. Passion. Lance had been a supernova of desire, clinging to Keith as if he’d burn out of existence without him. It had been hot. And messy. Kisses up his neck, knees jabbed into his thigh, hands wandering so far they nearly lost their owner. Lance had never experienced such an electric night before. And yet, it had felt so right. An album designed just for him, playing on a CD he almost didn’t pick it up. The only question was why hadn’t he noticed it sooner? 

Then all too soon it was morning. And Lance had to leave. The Garrison had already been on his back about his liberal attitude to deadlines and this extended trip to space was the result of much bargaining on his side. He couldn’t charm his way out of another late return. Especially not when it was caused by a long overdue hook-up.

Keith had looked so peaceful against the sheets. Bare chest bobbing gently as his breaths ghosted against pink lips, black hair fanned across the pillow where Lance had eagerly pulled it free from its tie only hours before. In that moment, Lance had been filled with an overwhelming urge to just quit his job and wrap himself around the man. A desire that had never quite left since.

But he needed money. And the Garrison was the only place offering free travel to his very own friends whilst maintaining a solid base close to his family. It was the perfect career – alien intelligence officer by day, farmhand by night. But it had its moments of injustice. Like that one. Because, with a longing glance, Lance left his sleeping lover. Without a word. Jetting back to Earth only to be propelled into back to back meetings with no visible end, presenting data until the numbers became blurs and work became nine to nine. By the time he had a moment spare, Keith was back on a mission with the blades. He would be unreachable until his return.

In other words, it had been six weeks since Lance slept with Keith. Six weeks of revisiting that night. Six weeks of craving Keith’s touch. Six weeks of waiting to see his morning eyes. Six weeks of planning their next meeting. Six weeks of wandering where their first date would be. Six weeks of realising who he wanted to be with. And six weeks of complete silence.

So, despite how difficult it was to tell his friend’s new ship from the old, Lance nodded eagerly at every detail Hunk pointed out, delighted at the possibility that in a mere few hours he could have everything he’d been dreaming of. Apparently, Keith had been delayed, thus missing the grand tour of bevelled door frames and round topped screws. But Lance didn’t hold it against him. In fact, it was easy to see how the ship shone in Hunk’s eyes when Lance’s entire world glittered with possibility.

They ended the tour in the dining room where an extravagant dinner was prepared for them - courtesy of Hunk’s staff. It was overkill really, enough food for a whole planet and enough waiters to inhabit one, but Lance couldn’t complain, especially when there was a third place being set. Hunk was enthusing over the table – a smooth metal gift from a now peace-bound community – when the room was hit with another wave of activity. Staff rushed around them clearing plates and swooping towards the door where a hive of activity suddenly appeared. Lance’s only guess was that their long-awaited guest had arrived.

“Coffee?”

Lance jumped at the voice. One of Hunk’s waiters had ducked between them, a flash of bright blue skin and an almost earthen physique, grinning mischievously at the two with perfectly round teeth.

“Only if it’s Romelle’s new blend!” Hunk replied without missing a beat.

“Of course!” The alien exclaimed, throwing a hand to his chest in mock offense, “who do you take me for!?”

The two laughed and Lance quickly decided he wasn’t needed, shifting his focus right back on the door. There was a flicker of darkness between the bodies and Lance’s heart quickened. Keith was in his blade outfit. A whole month away and he was still in his blade outfit. That could only mean he was just as desperate to see Lance as Lance was for him. Wriggling in his seat, Lance hoped to catch more and when he glimpsed just the barest touch of an awkward smile, his stomach flipped like a lucky penny.

“Mel’s Coffee is the best!” Hunk gushed, pouring drinks as Lance barely listened. “She grows the beans herself, all from this Altean plant she mixed with the earth variety. It’s literally heaven in a cup and I should know, I was the first to try it.”

Lance nodded vaguely, watching Keith shake off the brunt of fussing staff. It was just their waiter left now, one more awkward greeting before he finally landed at their table. Lance lifted his cup to hide his likely god-awful smile. They were so close. Pressing the drink to his lips, Lance promised himself a little more patience. Then the waiter swooped in and he choked.

“Hey babe.” The man trilled, sliding one blue hand onto Keith’s waist. Then the sound of a wet kiss being pressed to a cheek slammed through the room and Lance’s stomach turned. He watched in absolute horror as the waiter proceeded to lean in even closer, mouth practically on Keith’s ear. His lips moved, pixie eyes slipping into slits as he smirked, tugging at Keith’s arm to make him follow. They were out the room in mere seconds.

“Who was that!?” Lance stammered, gaping at the empty space, not even bothering to blot the coffee from his cheeks.

“Huh?”

Hunk flipped his gaze between him and the door taking far too long to follow.

“That.” Lance hissed, gesturing violently to the door.

“Oh. Keith’s boyfriend?”

Lance felt the word like a stab to the gut. Boyfriend.

“Yeah, he’s Draxis one of our casual waiters. It was actually me who set them up. And, not to blow my own trumpet, but they’ve been going steady for about a month now so I’m pretty sure I’m the greatest matchmaker in history.”

Lance’s heart sank like a stone. Everything he’d imagined. It wasn’t going to be his.

“Yeah.” He forced out, sounding anything but happy, “guess you are.”

He stared down at his coffee, watching bubbles pop in the cream. Why had he let his stupid imagination run away like that?

“Hey man!” Hunk rushed, filling the strange silence that had fallen over them, “I could set you up with someone too! If you want.”

Lance let out a snort.

“No. It’s alright. I think I’m done with all that now.”

“What?”

Lance could feel Hunk’s eyes bore into him. Now he wasn’t rushing to smooth over an issue, instead he was trying to find it. And Lance couldn’t handle that right now. This was Hunk’s big day. Lance didn’t want to ruin that and he knew no matter what Hunk said, he couldn’t fix a broken heart. This was going to take more than a few choice words to heal. And it was Lance’s fault for letting his dreams overtake his reality.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” Lance announced, switching on a smile. “Wash off all this coffee.”

“O-okay.” Hunk said, watching carefully as Lance shoved back his seat, “it’s just through the corridor, third door on the left.”

Lance nodded. Then he made a quick escape, doubting he’d need any tap water to wash away the coffee with how prickly the area behind his eyes had become.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor baby Lance, what will he do?? :(
> 
> Update will be soon-ish? my life's kinda lacking direction right now but it's halfway done!
> 
> Thanks for reading! ♥


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance leaves Hunk's early and bumps into Draxis of all people :)))

Lance left Hunk’s early.

He’d wiped his eyes and put on a show, but it had been difficult under Keith’s intense gaze. And avoiding alone time was like dodging a bullet. Every time Hunk had tried to leave it was a struggle to piggyback on his various errands. And when he failed, Lance had to trap unsuspecting waiters in meaningless conversation until his friend returned. Lance’s only saving grace, was that at least Draxis was nowhere to be seen after his little show - thank god. Lance could not have handled facing that whole mess when just the memory of his stupid blue face had Lance nearly breaking glass.

After only an hour, Lance had decided to call it quits.

He’d feel guilty in the morning, maybe even embarrassed, but currently he just felt empty. And lost. His whole life plan of the past few weeks had just fallen apart. All because Lance was stupid enough to believe a one-night stand was something more.

Kicking pebbles, he took the long way back to his apartment. It was a small place, just two rooms with a bed that converted into a sofa, but Lance liked it well enough. It meant having his own space whilst being close to his family and his job. He rarely spent enough time there for it to feel empty anyway, and besides that, it was situated on the middle floor meaning his neighbours muffled chatter kept him in constant company.

Now, after weeks of Keith occupying his head, it seemed practically abandoned. Lance had made the mistake of indulging in fantasies where Keith stayed over - head resting heavily on Lance’s chest as they watched tv, bottle of wine left abandoned somewhere on the floor, too lazy to change the sofa back to a bed. It had felt right. The perfect picture. And now it was ripped from the frame.

Even walking through town was a painful reminder of what Lance was missing. The coffee shop he wanted to take Keith to, with garden furniture and a big mural of a sunset painted up the back wall. The motor shop with a black leather jacket Lance was convinced Keith would die for. And the restaurant he passed now – one of the top three running for first date central.

It was a modern place, with blown glass bulbs that dripped from the ceiling like shells and tables decorated with shattered sea glass. In place of walls, were giant tanks filled with tropical fish swimming happily between tables. There was a bar at the entrance, made up of undulating mirrors shaped like an ocean. And, right at the back was... Lance’s jaw dropped.

Draxis.

Mother fucking Draxis. Or rather- no Lance was not going to finish that thought!

Apparently, he was going to stare though. And stay stock still. Standing in the centre of a busy pavement whilst irritated shoppers smacked him with their bags as they tried to pass.

Draxis wasn’t alone either. He was laughing widely at the person opposite him - a man with cropped hair and bright green eyes who seemed to delight in the very action. Even as Draxis’s fork waved around in the air, flinging food across the room like the dirty bastard he was.

Wait, name calling!? Lance mentally slapped himself. There was absolutely no need for that. This was who Keith had chosen to be with and Lance had to accept that. So, he did the right thing and continued walking. Draxis deserved to enjoy his dinner with his friend in peace. Even if he did so obnoxiously and- hold on. Friends did NOT play footsie like that.

Lance marched through the door before he even finished the thought.

“Sir? Can I help you?”

Lance stopped abruptly. He had been hell bent on stomping right over to that table, but the voice hooked him back. There was a bartender blinking curiously at him, slowly turning her head to follow his gaze. Lance yelped, jumping onto a bar stool before she could catch what he was doing. Wait, what was he doing?

“Drink!” He cried out. “Yes! I’d like a drink.”

That would be better than being a stalker, right? Because that was what Lance was doing. Oh god was that what he was doing? Lance’s palms began to sweat. Why had he come in here? This wasn’t any of his business. Keith’s significant other was probably having a well-earned night out with a friend and Lance’s stupid jealously was going to ruin everything by fabricating affairs and acting like he was in a soap opera.

“Of?

“Huh?”

Lance stared blankly up at the woman and she wrapped a long red fingernail against one of the glass bottles.

“What would you like a drink of?”

“Oh umm…”

Lance’s gaze drifted back over to the table. Draxis seemed to be continuing his clearly wondrous conversation with reckless abandon, knife joining in the food flinging fun. At least he was completely oblivious. Lance let out a sigh of relief. He was safe. But then he noticed the bartender, shoulders staring to tilt as she moved to follow his gaze.

“Water!” Lance spluttered, before she could reach the destination. Then his heartbeat increased three-fold. He couldn’t just go ahead and order tap water at some fancy restaurant!? Especially not because he was too heavily invested in the love life of a stranger to think straight. “I meant sparkling! Yes sparkling water! Mmm can’t get me enough of that stuff!”

The lady gave him a long stare, and Lance was sure she could see his heart beat straight through his ribs. But after a tense moment, she released him, grabbing a glass from somewhere below the bar with a bored expression once more. Lance let out a whoosh of breath. He’d be fine. It was only a drink. People drank all the time. He’d got himself caught in worse situations before. Even if sparkling water was the only liquid to flow through hell itself.

His eyes drifted back to Draxis. He was from hell and all. It was a little harder to see him now, a pillar placed directly in front of his date. Or friend. Most definitely, probably, a friend.

“Ice?”

Lance jumped. Really, he should have been used to this by now.

“No thanks!”

She nodded, though her lip curled like she’d rather Lance not be there. That was something Lance could agree on. He decided to watch her this time, if only to keep himself busy. She had perfectly manicured nails and sleek brown hair that fell in a waterfall across her pristine white shirt. A silver waistcoat was pulled over it and she wore a small, professional looking, nametag reading Sara over the chest - the signature uniform of a place like this. Lance’s stomach twisted like a worm. He shouldn’t be there. He shouldn’t be watching Draxis. And he shouldn’t have been acting on impulses alone. This was ridiculous. If he were to save any sense of dignity, he should just finish his drink and leave with minimal fuss like the sensible adult he was.

Sara slid his drink over and Lance put on his best smile, thanking her kindly. It seemed like he could stick to his plan but as soon as she turned away, he found himself staring at Draxis once more. He had a large mouth. And sleazy eyes. Practically drooling as he talked, with his cheek in one hand and drink swirling in the other. That was a flirty pose, Lance concluded and scoffed into his drink. The nerve of this guy. Cheating on Keith in broad daylight. What a disgrace. He was lucky Lance was a sensible man or else with just one shred of evidence Lance would be handing him his ass on a silver platter. As it was, Lance had none. So, he was simply going to finish his drink and leave.

“Sara?” Lance called, leaning up in his chair, “could I get a coffee too please?”

The bartender frowned. “The machine’s on the blink so it’ll be about ten minutes. Is that okay?”

“Perfect.”  


~*~

  
Halfway through his coffee Lance got the proof he needed. Draxis had just finished his dessert - a shared dessert may Lance add - and was leaning forward over the plate. His lips wobbled, but his eyes remained sharp. A blot of purple tongue peeked between his lips, before they were scooped up entirely by a second pair. Lance threw down his cup. A kiss! On the lips. That was decidedly not platonic.

Draxis leaned back, eyes gooey and stupid as he practically flopped into his chair. With a dreamy sigh, he hauled himself up, eyes refusing to leave his dates until the last minute. Lance fought a gag. Then he realised what was happening and jumped to his feet. This was his chance at justice! Skidding around the corner, Lance dashed into Draxis’s path, narrowly missing an onslaught of waiters who were lined up like dominoes. 

“I saw you.”

Draxis stepped back in surprise, blinking widely.

“Lance?”

“Yes it’s Lance. And you better have a good explanation for this because Keith is my friend and he deserves better.”

Draxis cocked his head, and Lance nudged a shoulder towards the table where his DATE was stretching thick arms high above his head.

“What? oh! Oh.”

Draxis whipped back to Lance, shaking his hands in the air.

“It’s not what you think!”

“Oh that’s good! Because I’m not thinking about what a great boyfriend you make!”

Draxis’s waving increased ten-fold. “Seriously it’s not!”

Lance scoffed, folding his arms. “Then tell me what it is.”

Draxis bit his lip. He didn’t lose the panicked look in his eyes, but now it seemed up for debate as his brows lowered. 

“It’s complicated.” He said looking down at the tiles, “I’m not sure it’s my place to tell you. Maybe you should talk to Keith?”

Keith? KEITH? Why the hell would Lance speak to Keith when he’s the one being cheated on? Unless...

“Did you and Keith break up!?”

Lance hadn’t meant to sound so thrilled, but he couldn’t help it. That would be the one piece of news that would actually improve his day.

“Uhh...” Draxis pulled his arm up to scratch at his neck. “Not exactly.”

Not exactly? How could a relationship be up for debate? As far as Lance was concerned, they were either together or not. And it was important to know which. Even his stomach struggled to keep up with the answer. It paused mid twist, waiting to either pull free or tie into an impossibly tight knot. And with the way it ached, Lance wasn’t sure if it either scenario would be for the best.

“Just tell me,” he whispered, voice thin and tired, “please.”

Draxis took pause at this. Fiddling with his shirt sleeve, he glanced back over to his date. The guy had a thin blush crossing his cheeks, covering even the ridge of his nose, and he laughed shyly at something the waiter said. Draxis lingered a second longer, before turning back with a sigh.

“Okay. Just, please don’t let this get back to-“

“Hey!” Lance shot in, “I am making no such promises! If you’re cheating on Keith he deserves to know.”

“No, I don’t mean... Look Keith already knows. We just can’t tell Hunk.”

“Hunk?”

Irritation covered Lance like a heavy coat. Why was Hunk involved in this mess? It was bad enough Lance had got himself dragged in.

“Yes.” Draxis replied, almost pleaded. “Keith and I did go on a date about a month ago, but it didn’t work out. Hunk loves setting us up but his taste... it’s not great. I mean he promised me a super romantic date and I ended up with Keith.”

The way he said Keith didn’t sit well with Lance. Sure, romance didn’t come naturally to the guy, but he tried. That was attractive in its own way. Then again, Keith would only put in the effort when he thought the person was worth it. Lance puffed out his chest a little. Sorry Drax, guess you didn’t make the cut. Keith had taken him out to see the sunset over a foreign horizon with a basket full of garlic knots and they weren’t even dating. Lance deflated once again. They weren’t even dating.   
  
“Anyway, that’s not the point.” Draxis continued unaffected, “Keith and I both admitted we weren’t into each other but that it was hard saying no to Hunk. And since all his Cupid’s arrows were nearly killing us, it made sense to make a deal instead. Pretend to date and avoid him setting us up on another without having to refuse him.”

“Pretend?” Lance echoed.

“Yeah. Keith knows I’m out tonight, gave us his blessing even, and if things go well a breakup is totally on the cards.”

So, it was all a lie? Lance had been through all this misery because of a lie? He was made to feel like a complete idiot because Keith was too much of a coward to say no and would rather lie?

“We cool now?”

Lance looked back up to Draxis, zooming back to Earth like a meteorite.

“Yep. Totally.”

Draxis sighed in relief, pulling a hand to his chest.

“Thank god! I’d hate to cause some sort of trouble.”

“No don’t worry about it.” Lance oozed, feeling his lips pull widely against his cheek, “in fact, let’s all go out to dinner tomorrow. Make up for all this fuss, yeah?”

Draxis nodded eagerly, “that would be great! I know how important you are to Keith. And Hunk is my boss! It would be great for us all to get along!”

“Of course!” Lance replied brightly, slapping him on the back, “it’s a date!”

A double date. If Keith got to flaunt Draxis around like the Earth around the sun, then why couldn’t Lance? He’d make sure Keith got a whole bottle worth of his own medicine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance be plotting 😈
> 
> Thanks for reading!! Hoping next update will be next week~


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is ready to take his revenge at the restaurant and make Keith very jealous when Hunk turns up and throws a spanner in the works

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Will update next week” - and I really believed that. 
> 
> (I’m so sorry)

Lance was first to arrive at the restaurant. It was getting dark out and car lights flashed across the windows, illuminating the odd raindrop floating in the air. Lance tucked his nose into his collar as he waited, hand pushing against the seams of his pockets. This dinner was his idea, but he couldn’t help wishing he didn’t have to go. Facing Keith – and even worse Draxis – just picked at the wound he’d barely taped over. But then he saw a flash of legs between the headlights and realised his fate was already sealed.

The happy ‘couple’ were rushing along the pavement, heads ducked close together under their matching raincoats. Lance scoffed. It was barely even spitting. And real couples didn’t match clothes. This was just another one of their lies – a way to poke fun at Lance’s romantic tendencies. The thought made Lance’s stomach twist and his resolve returned instantly. He was wounded and he’d make damn sure Keith knew it. So, shaking out his shoulders, Lance stood tall, blowing the hair out of his face and plastering on a grin.

“Hey guys!” Lance greeted brightly, jogging down the pavement to meet them, “nice to formally meet you Draxis.”

“Y-yeah you too!”

Draxis had a limp handshake. Lance let it fall quickly, flashing his eyes at Keith. “Shame someone forgot to mention you.”

“I-”

“Am useless, right?” Lance jabbed, keeping his tone brisk and light but stabbing Keith with his eyes. It seemed now that he’d started, the insults came easily. Draxis laughed awkwardly.

“He sure is.”

Lance hummed, taking a long moment to watch the discomfort unfurl across Keith’s features. It seemed hesitant, like it didn’t want to believe Lance was doing this on purpose. Lance took that as an advantage – he could play the game a little longer. “Shall we grab a table?”

“Sure!”

Finally, something Draxis did understand! He stepped confidently towards the door, and Lance turned, hot on his heel. But a hand caught his elbow before he could follow.

“Hey,” Keith whispered, deep in his ear, “can we talk a sec?”

The heat of his breath was only a hairs width from Lance’s neck and it burned through him, igniting his cells into a hot rage. How dare he stand so close? Lance shoved him back.

“We really shouldn’t leave your date alone.”

“Listen-”

“LANCE!”

A patter of clicks followed the shout, and Lance spun around just in time to catch a shock of blonde hair. A girl fell into him, pink coat swooping between them like a bat as she immediately hooked their arms together.

“Gosh! The wind here on Earth nearly blew me off my feet!” Romelle cried, stumbling into him as she brought her spare hand up to squish an out of season hat to her head. “Thank the ancients you’re here!”

“Romelle?”

Keith stared open mouthed at the girl hanging off Lance’s arm. She tipped her hat politely, but Keith remained the picture of utter shock. His brows furrowed, lip curling as his eyes drifted to their linked arms and Lance felt a surge of power.

“Oh? I see you’ve met my date!” He sang, making a point to emphasize the word ‘date’ before pressing a wet kiss against Romelle’s cheek. “Isn’t she cute!”

Keith’s eye twitched as he watched, and Lance’s grin only grew wider.

“See you brought Draxis so I brought Mel! You wouldn’t want me to third wheel, would you?”

“Third…?” Keith trailed off, brows sliding towards each other. Romelle glanced between the two.

“Is there something wrong? I thought this was supposed to be a double date?”

“Course it is, Mellie!” Lance sprang in. This would not be the moment to lose his date when he was only just starting his revenge plan. Speaking of, this was a perfect moment. “Because you and Draxis are dating right?”

“I uh…”

Keith looked extremely uncomfortable now. And not even in the good way – he seemed kind of pale and barely even listening. It was a little offensive when Lance had worked so hard to ruffle him up.

“Oh! You’re all out here!”

Lance froze. That wasn’t…

“I was worried I’d be early! And then I thought I might be too late! Draxis said seven so I moved my shift but then- oh hey Romelle!”

“Hunk!” Romelle threw Lance’s arm down as if it had caught fire. “I, uh, didn’t know you would be here!”

“Me neither! Thought you said you had a date?”

Romelle nodded fiercely. “I am! I mean I do! With Lance!”

“Lance?”

“Yep! Me!”

Lance’s heart drummed against his ribs making it hard to speak in any octave lower than a squeak. Why was Hunk here? He shouldn’t be here!

“Okay? Didn’t know we were bringing dates.” Hunk said carefully, giving Lance the eye that said ‘explain this now’.

“Well Keith was bringing a date and Draxis was too, so I thought, hey! Why not me!?”

Hunk nodded, keeping his lips pursed.

“Is that Draxis inside?” Romelle asked in fluster, using Lance as a lever to rise up on her tiptoes.

“Yes!” Lance thanked the lord Romelle knew how to find a good distraction. “Let’s join him.”

Ignoring Hunk’s obvious desire to pull him aside, Lance strode forward, ripping the restaurant door open and hurrying inside.

Draxis was already sat in a booth. With red velvet cushions and flickering candles. It looked cosy. And romantic. Lance swallowed thickly. This would be easy right? He just had to focus on his own date – ignore how the setting created perfect cinema of his rivals. And if he forgot about the whole Romelle thing, he could use Hunk’s presence to his advantage. Make Keith squirm under his lies. This was perfect. So, Lance slid into the booth and rearranged his mouth into a confident grin. It’s not like he had to face Hunk yet. Revenge came first. And as he watched Draxis greet Keith with a kiss, Lance knew he would not regret it.

“I’m just going to pop to the loo.” Romelle said as she placed her coat down, and Lance snapped. He couldn’t face Hunk yet! It would ruin his entire plan! He threw out a hand, but she moved too quickly, and he ended up grasping for air. With his excuses dying on his tongue, Lance had to switch tactic fast. He scrambled to the end of the booth, bar on his mind when Hunk grabbed his hand and he was trapped. Like the perfect snare.

“Dude, what the hell?” Hunk hissed, ducking in close. “You know how I feel about Romelle.”

Lance instantly filled with guilt. He did know. He’d encouraged Hunk to express himself time and time again. Had heard all of Hunk’s tales of woe – the courage he could never find. Lance really wanted him to ask her out. They would make an adorable couple. Even if the way they danced around the kitchen together was anything but graceful. Lance had caught them several times stumbling to the radio in their own rhythm, Hunk spoon feeding Romelle a new recipe and Romelle giggling as half spilled on the floor. His heart had ached. Their smiles were undeniable.

But Romelle was the first person Lance had chanced upon once he’d formed his plan. So, it was natural he’d asked her out. Only now the second thoughts were coming. Was this a betrayal? Was Hunk upset? Would he yell? Oh god was Hunk going to cry!? Lance was not equipped to deal with Hunk tears! He bit his lip, searching for something positive to say. But then he made the grave mistake of looking across the table.

Keith was staring at him. Eyes glassy. Expression unreadable. But without a doubt, he was listening in. And suddenly, Lance ignited quicker than gasoline.

“What’s your problem!?”

“Mine?” Keith recoiled in disgust, “you’re the one who asked out your best friend’s crush!”

“Well, hey, feelings change! I can’t keep up twenty-four seven!

“They don’t change that quickly.”

“Well yours certainly did! I mean you appeared with Draxis not ten minutes ago!”

“That’s different.” Keith hissed, tone suddenly much cooler.

Lance squeezed his fists into his thighs to stop them reaching for his collar. Of course it was different! Lance had thrown his heart out to Keith and Keith had slammed it down like a volleyball ball spike, own kept safely tucked away in his coat - not even a second thought of offering it back. It hurt. To have his feelings splattered on the pavement. Lance would make him feel that pain.

“Oh, I’d say-”

“You’re right.”

Lance’s anger fell away. Hunk had his head bowed, shrinking into his shoulders as he spoke towards the tabletop. There was none of his usual strong and sturdy presence left. 

“It’s been years. And I haven’t had the confidence to ask Romelle out.” He said, fidgeting with his napkin, “if she wants to date, then that’s her choice. No matter who it is, I have no right to be upset.”

Lance blinked as Hunk moved to show him a watery smile. Lance’s heart panged. Maybe he was right – Romelle could date whoever she wanted, even if it was someone clued in on Hunk’s feelings. But, Lance didn’t really like Romelle - at least not in that way - and he didn’t deserve the kindness his friend offered. The charade was breaking Hunk’s heart. And Lance hated that he was the one peforming it.

“Look, Hunk, I should-”

“I think Lance is out of line.”

“What?”

Keith had his arms folded and he held Lance in a fierce glare. “You heard me.”

“Well, I had hoped I hadn’t.” Lance hissed, rising in his seat. Keith had a lot of nerve interrupting. Especially when this whole mess was his fault.

“I said, you’re out of line.” Keith snarled, mirroring Lance’s pose and leaning across the table.

“Guys, please don’t do this! I’m fine! Let’s not ruin dinner!”

“No, if Keith has something to say, he should say it.” Lance said, eyes never leaving Keith’s glare as he cracked his neck.

“I already did.”

“Alright then!” Hunk announced, standing abruptly, “all’s been said. Let’s sit down, yeah?”

“You think I’m out of line, hotshot?”

“Yes, you.”

“Guys please.”

“Well I think you’re out of line.”

“Wow, how original.”

“I don’t need to be original to be right!”

“BOYS!”

A flash of blue tore between them and Lance found himself shoved back, hard.

“Romelle will be back soon.”

Lance’s gaze immediately flicked to Draxis. He stood between them, one hand on each of their heaving chests, keeping them firmly apart with a hard stare aimed at Keith.

“I thought you wanted a nice dinner?”

Lance’s blood turned molten. Why was Draxis acting like he knew better!? Like he knew Keith better. As if he was practiced in calming down the eternal flame of rage. This was a performance! A lie! In no way did he actually care for Keith’s wellbeing! Or his kisses. Or the little smiles he gets when he successfully convinces the team to stay out an hour longer. Lance wanted to scream.

But instead, he took a deep breath. He concentrated on the air filling his lungs, the faint smell of peach from the candles and the coolness of the breeze slipping under the door. And he relaxed. This was all an act. Draxis didn’t need to care for Keith and Keith didn’t need to care for him. They were playing the role. And credit to them, they were doing good. But Lance would do better.

“Drax is right.” He said coolly, fixing on a toothless smile. “Let’s just order.”

Then Lance sat down. Without any fuss. Returning to the plush cushions as if the argument had never happened. He slid his menu over, resting an elbow on the wood as he flipped through the pages, ignoring the way the rest of his guests remained standing. It was quiet a second, or maybe a minute, Lance wasn’t counting. Then, hesitantly, his guests returned to their seats, and a fog-like quiet crawled over the table. Lance ignored that too. Because Draxis was right. Romelle woud be back soon. And Lance was going to grab his chance at revenge like the devil reaching out his claws and dragging his victims down to hell.

“Do you know, Earth does not get nearly enough credit for its bathrooms.” Romelle breezed on her return, blowing away the fog.

“No?” Lance asked, shuffling over to make room. “You have a nice time in there?”

“The best. I’m a big fan of the vase of flowers. And the soap!”

Romelle announced this like it was an explanation in itself, and apparently it was, as Lance found Hunk nodding along whilst he struggled to follow.

“Was it the foamy kind?”

“Exactly! Pre-bubbled liquid, what could be better!?”

Lance snorted. Of course, what else? People said a lot about Romelle, but you couldn’t deny that the girl did have an uncanny habit of lightening the mood. Maybe she wasn’t Lance’s first choice of date, but she was the sweetest, and with that realisation, he couldn’t help himself as he gave her an affectionate squeeze around the waist. She giggled, continuing to enthuse with Hunk and Lance released her with her a smile. He was just about to slide a menu over to her, when he faltered. Keith was watching. Or rather glaring. Specifically at his hand, the one that had been touching Romelle just a moment before. Was Keith not a fan of the casual affection? Lance smirked.

“Here’s a menu, babe.” He said, dropping the menu in front of Romelle before slipping his arm around to wrap her up underneath it. The girl barely reacted, too deeply locked in conversation with Hunk about the formation of soap bubbles. But that didn’t matter, because Keith did. He was like a predator. Waiting to pounce. As if Lance’s hand was a mere shrew.

It was not. It was the spider, biding its time by spinning a sprawling web that goes amiss until too late.

“Hey Romelle,” Lance spoke deeply, brushing his lips against her hair as his eyes pinned Keith to his seat, “maybe you and Hunk should get some for the ship.”

It had meant to be a simple remark, only the tone adjusted into a sultry whisper to irritate Keith. And, in that respect it had worked - Keith’s brows lowering so close to his eyes Lance wasn’t sure he could see anymore. But he didn’t get long to revel in his victory because as soon as Lance had even said her name, Romelle swung around so fast, she nearly knocked him out with the whip of her hair.

“Both of us!?” She shrieked, eyes wide, cheeks flushed. “But it’s Hunk’s ship! I’m just an employee, I don’t- I’m not- I-“

Romelle clamped her jaw shut, throwing her gaze back down at the table like she wasn’t sure whether to break it or crawl underneath. Before Lance could even attempt damage control, Hunk was spluttering too.

“I mean of course I’d want Romelle’s opinion but I’d want everybody’s! I don’t play favourites!”

“Uhh, no I know that bud-“

“Drax!” Romelle yelped, giving Lance a tiny heart attack, “What’s your opinions? About the soap!”

She leant forward, fingernails digging grooves into the table as her eyes grew wider and smile more manic.

Draxis cleared his throat, “well... I don’t really have strong opinions on soap, so I say sure?”

What conviction, Lance thought dryly. What had Keith even seen in this guy? Romelle didn’t seem bothered though, nodding seriously and turning her witchy gaze to Keith. He blinked in bewilderment, clearly having only just torn his gaze from Lance’s hand which had been thrown off Romelle in the chaos. Lance felt a little smug at that observation.

Keith settled on a confused shrug in response. “It’s soap.”

Lance let out a bark. “Wow good insight Keith.”

And then the mood soured instantly.

“You got anything better to say?” Keith growled, switching easily to something he understood: rage. 

“Actually I do!” Lance announced, despite having precisely nothing to say. It was fine, he was always good at thinking on the spot. “They like the soap, and, yeah, it’s soap, but at least they’re passionate about something. They care. They love. They enthuse. Tell me Keith, when’s the last time you cared enough about someone to act like an idiot about it?”

“Excuse me?”

“Guys,” Hunk sighed, almost resigned. Lance flicked his hand to let him know he had this all under control.

“Just a question.” He said nonchalantly, waiting for Keith to open his mouth just so he could interrupt again. “It’s cool though. We all know the answer, no need to dwell, we’ve got lives to leave, people to see oh is that the waitress good evening!”

The waitress, a tall woman, with a presence not unlike Kolivan’s, was approaching with even strides that turned cautious as she spotted Lance.

“Evening.” She said flatly, flicking her gaze around the table - from the pure rage of Keith, to the reserved discomfort of Drax and the shear will power Lance was radiating in order to keep her there.

“Should I return-“

“No! I am so ready to order.” Lance announced, bouncing his menu off the table for emphasis. Then he noticed Keith’s molten gaze. Why was he trying to scare off their poor waitress? “Can’t speak for Keith here though. Indecisive as a bee in flower garden. He’s got all the options, but will he like it? Not a chance! He’ll change his mind after the first course - not that he’ll tell you that, no! I’d just cut your losses now and skip him all together.”

Keith rolled his eyes. The waitress laughed robotically.

“I’ll have the soup of the day!” Hunk cut in urgently, giving Lance a look as Romelle followed up with a panicked “me too!”

Lance just sighed, flipping open the menu and selecting the first thing he saw - some sort of salmon dish. It wasn’t important. It was interrupting his flow.

The waitress did take Keith’s order. Guess it was her job. She left, finally, and Lance licked his lips. It was time. But before he could get out another low-brow insult in, Hunk hurriedly kept him quiet.

“So, Keith, how was your last mission?”

Lance huffed but Hunk valiantly ignored him, sticking his plump cheeks into his palms so his mouth got stuck in a sweet smile. It made Lance want to huff even more. The boy in question frowned.

“I’m, uh, not really supposed to say.”

Hunk nodded in understanding, “one of those huh?”

Lance knew Hunk would be able to steer the stilted conversation into something more full-bodied in less than a few seconds, so he needed to act fast. It wasn’t a great opening, but Lance could steer too. Right off the rails.

“How about your time before the mission?” Lance shot, dipping the words in a little acid to give them some spice. “Up to much?”

Keith turned cold. “Why are you asking?”

Lance shrugged, twisting Romelle’s hair around his finger. It was silky - curling slowly around his knuckles in a smooth curve. Keith’s used to dash. Running in and out of his fingers like it couldn’t stay still but didn’t want to leave. The rough ends, snapping knots. Lance had liked it.

“You met Draxis didn’t you?” He said, before even thinking.

Keith sat up straight. The restaurant clattered around them and the hum of conversation grew louder. He didn’t answer. It was the first time Lance had really seen him thrown. This was the moment Lance was supposed to feel something, right? A kind of rush. Maybe triumph? At the very least, his anger was supposed to alleviate. It didn’t though. Instead, it was like turning a dripping tap the wrong way and inadvertently soaking yourself. Lance felt choked, eyes now warm in a slippery kind of way.

He couldn’t afford to cry though. So, he pushed it all down. Forced it to change form. Squeezed until it became something a little less weak. Something a little scarier. Something more likely to fight.

“So how did that happen huh?” Lance asked, feeling himself lose a little more of his composure. “You were what, free as a bird before that?”

Keith’s expression darkened as Lance met him head on. “I wouldn’t say I’m not free now.”

“Yeah, kinda old-fashioned view there, Lance.” Hunk reproached, with an awkward laugh. “Old ball and chain.”

“Well, free, single, alone, whatever. You weren’t with anyone for however long, so why now? Why Draxis?”

Keith pursed his lips, but it was another’s voice who answered, much to Lance’s aggravation. “Actually-”

Lance snapped, flipping on Draxis, ““I asked Keith.”

It was dead silent. As if Lance had cast a spell of ice across the table. It made a certain kind of tension unfurl - different between every member of the table. Caution, anger, distaste. The ice was easily broken, although the tension only built.

“Let Drax finish.” Keith ground out, in more of a growl than speech.

Lance exaggerated an eye roll. Of course, Keith would chicken out. May as well have not given him the chance in the first place. It irritated Lance but there was no harm in letting Draxis take over. For a bit.

“So me and Keith-”

Lance tutted. He hadn’t meant to. For some reason his brain to mouth filter had clonked out when Lance set eyes on Drax’s drab face and the way its mouth kept preventing Keith from falling into a hole. But with the dirty look Keith sent him at the noise, Lance made a note to do it again.

“Well,” Draxis continued, albeit reluctantly, “as you know Hunk likes setting up dates.”

All but his own Lance thought dryly, tutting again. In a way it acted like a nod to continue.

“And well he set us up on one-”

“Ah yes the fated first meeting!” Lance exclaimed brightly, “tell me Keith how did that come about?”

With an eyebrow twitch, Keith growled. “Maybe if you’d listen-“

“Oh don’t worry I am.” Lance assured, flicking on an empty smile, “every single word.

The conversation had taken on a noticeable shift now, everyone highly aware of some sort of unrest they couldn’t see - a figure lingering behind a blackened glass. It didn’t matter to Lance though - and he sensed Keith couldn’t care less either with the way their eyes locked, two storms brewing. Waiting to collide in a tornado likely to tear apart all who crossed between them.

Draxis coughed awkwardly.

“Well... it had been a while for Keith-“

“Hah!”

Keith’s expression darkened. Lance let his sneer grow wider. He could feel other patrons turning around now - forgetting to cover their stares with empty conversation. Lance could barely spare them a second thought. He had tunnel vision, and it was closing in on the tension bubbling beneath Keith’s skin. He was close to breaking.

“Yeah, for both of us really. And Hunk thought since we were both single-”

“Single!?” Lance cried, summoning a stellar performance of shock. It wasn’t actually too hard given it was shocking to learn that Keith had told so many people he was single after shacking up with an absolute knockout. Keith’s lip curled.

“Yeah. And Hunk wanted to do us some good.”

“Course. Hunk is an angel. Butter wouldn’t melt cutie. You’d never do him wrong.”

A warning growl.

“But we didn’t hit it off in that way.”

Lance gasped. Loudly. “No!”

“Yes, but the thing is-“

“Can you believe it!? Cutest couple of the year didn’t hit it off right away!?”

“We didn’t-“

“Seriously! I can’t think why Keith wouldn’t hit it off with anyone!”

“Well we weren’t exactly-“

“I mean you were SINGLE for SO long!”

“What I mean is-“

“Y-”

“OH FOR THE LOVE OF-” Keith exploded, slamming his fists onto the table as he jumped up. “IT’S FAKE LANCE OKAY!? FAKE. WE’RE NOT DATING. WE NEVER WERE. WE WANTED TO TELL YOU BUT YOU WOULDN’T FUCKING LISTEN! AND THEN YOU COME HERE WALTZING IN WITH ROMELLE HANGING OFF YOUR SHOULDER LIKE SOME KIND OF BACKPACK, WHISPERING GOD KNOWS WHAT IN HER EARS ALL KISSY LOVEY DOVEY. SO YOU KNOW WHAT? DON’T GET PISSY WITH ME, ‘CAUSE WHAT YOU’RE DOING IS SO MUCH WORSE.”

“HAH!” Lance cried, leaping to his feet with triumph ringing in his bones, “THAT’S WHERE YOUR WRONG. MINES FAKE TOO!”

Lance beamed, standing top of his world, looking down on the treacherous Keith. His chest heaved, cheeks warm as if he’d won a hundred metre sprint and he felt elated. But the funny thing was, no one was sharing his victory. No roar of the crowd, or slaps on the back. He just faced the cold hard stare of an audience who couldn’t look away. Who’d witnessed something horrific.

“It’s fake?” Came Romelle’s voice next to him, ringing like an old church bell. It was quiet - like a mouse and yet shaking with the weight of her words. Lance turned, slowly, carefully, hesitantly. Glassy eyes stared up at him - begging to be wrong but already knowing their fate. And Lance was suddenly out of words. For the first time that whole evening, he didn’t have a witty remark or even just a weak apology. Stiff like a puppet, he just about managed a small nod, throat closing on a thick lump he wasn’t sure he could ever rid himself of.

But where Lance was stuck, Romelle was fluid

“I have to go.”

The girl scrambled for her coat, scooting out the booth with nimble speed as Lance just stood watching, completely frozen.

“Romelle-“

It was Hunk, calling uselessly as the girl rounded the bar, easily weaving around waiting staff with a coat sleeve bouncing off her back.

The table was quiet. Deafeningly so. The waitress appeared - arms covered in steaming plates. She didn’t set them. It was only now that Lance realised she’d witnessed the whole thing. But he couldn’t even feel embarrassed. The guilt coursing through his body was too powerful - too all consuming. He was overwhelmed. Blood a thick leaden liquid, cold and poisonous. He couldn’t move. The waitress stared. The restaurant stared. Lance stared. Into the empty space Romelle has been accompanying. And then it was Hunk. But not the usual Hunk. No soft smiles and squishy cheeks. His eyes were dark, mouth set like a stone. And his words were cold and even.

“Fix. This.”

Lance swallowed despite there being nothing in his throat to swallow. He squeezed his fists into his thighs. He looked Hunk dead in the eyes. Then he ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance isn’t a bad person! He was just blinded by jealousy - and now he’s gonna fix it! 👊👊
> 
> Thanks for reading! ♥️ Only fluff to come now really! I won’t make false promises about updating next week lol


	4. *BONUS CHAPTER*

2 months earlier…

Do garlic knots go off? Keith couldn’t remember, but the little round lumps did look less sweaty than his palms so they couldn’t be that bad, right? Keith switched hands. Now his left clutched the clammy basket handle and his right could get a breather, stretching in and out by his thigh. It had been three days since he’d made the knots and gathered all his supplies - a large, but not too large, picnic blanket, a six pack of ciders in fancy looking bottles, paper straws because, well, Keith just thought they looked fun, and a fully charged phone holding a playlist of ambient music downloaded offline. He was pretty proud of himself. All the ingredients for a romantic date tucked into a basket by his side. Which is why it would have been a waste to chicken out again - especially on Lance’s last night in space!

Keith had been staying with Hunk whilst on leave from the blades and he would never say it was unpleasant - it was a great place to be! Except, Hunk seemed to have developed a big interest in romance - or more specifically Keith’s lack thereof. He’d been setting Keith up on dates for months in the hopes he might find love. And it had only made Keith sure about one thing. Lance was the only person he wanted to date. All the guys were nice, they were polite and they never offended Keith. But every date would end with Keith feeling that little bit more agitated. It was easier to forget his feelings when he pretended romance didn’t exist. When he wasn’t around people openly wanting relationships. When he flew headfirst into blade operations, taking down any lasting Galra syndicates without a second thought for who could be waiting for him back home. But now, there was a cold at his side where he knew another could be nestled. Comments said aloud into a ship with no one listening. Leftovers put away where someone could have shared.

In no time at all, Keith was seeing a Lance-shaped hole in every area of his life. So, when Keith found out Lance was visiting, he was decided. There would be a hole no more.

But now, waiting outside Lance’s door, Keith was hesitating. He never got scared! He never had the time. It was always life of death, kill or be killed. Keith wasn’t exactly about to get stabbed by Lance. Maybe that’s what scared him - he’d be facing these consequences without the heat of a battle. A wound he’d be guaranteed to feel. What if he lost a friend? What if Lance thought he was weird? What if Lance laughed?

A quick ‘shoop’ noise broke Keith’s thoughts. And left his stomach tumbling to the floor.

“Oh hey man! Whatcha doing out here?”

Keith’s eyes ran over Lance. He was in a loose fit jumper, jeans with the legs hanging at mismatched lengths and his hair was rumpled like he’d just woken up from an unplanned nap. Crap. He looked kind of adorable. But more to the point, he looked distinctively comfortable. Lance was relaxing. Hanging out. ‘Getting his chill on.’ He wouldn’t want to go out now. This was a terrible idea.

“Never mind.” Keith stumbled out, twisting on his toes. He should just go hide out in his room until Lance’s ship left in the morning.

“Is that?” Lance made a point of sniffing loudly, stopping Keith in his tracks. “Hold on, do you have garlic knots?”

Keith’s face felt like a furnace.

“Y-yeah.” He coughed. Then he turned around, trying not to notice the way his hip joined his leg. “I, uh... there’s this planet nearby. I got a ship. And umm garlic knots?”

Lance cocked his head to the side.

“You asking me out on a joyrde?”

Keith’s chest tightened. He should say no. Lance didn’t look interested. This would only end badly. But then, this was his last chance.

“Yes.” Keith heard himself say, barely because his heart was beating so hard in his ears. He could feel it all the way down in his stomach - churning it up until he felt sick. He stared at the floor, hoping Lance would let him down easy.

“I’d love to!”

Keith’s gaze shot up like a spring. Lance was beaming, eyes wide curves that sparkled just as brightly as his teeth. “Let me grab some shoes!”

He sprang back into his room like a pixie with magic dust, leaving Keith aghast at the response. He caught a glimpse of the boy dancing on his toes before the door whooshed down again and he was left staring at a metal barrier. The dust settled, but Keith remained still. A warmth spread across his chest, unfurling like rays of sunshine, and slowly he melted. He felt his mouth tug at his cheeks before he let out a soft laugh and collapsed against the wall. The wind was knocked out of him, and somehow he was panting from just a short conversation, but Keith couldn’t help smile. Finally, he was heading to a date he actually wanted to go on.  


~*~

  
The thing about spaceships was that they were kind of like time machines. You could land in any time zone you wanted. It struck Keith as romantic to picnic under the stars. Lay their blanket across the pink sands, overlooking a huge crater that contained a warm water lake, lapping over the edge like a giant bath. It was a dormant volcano, so they wouldn’t get cold, and geothermal vents heated the sand until it smelled like burnt sugar. Keith breathed it in as they left the ship, the fragrance a familiar kind of sweetness akin to funfairs and carousels.

“Whoa.”

Lance had jumped out the ship, and was now frozen, bent forward like a skier. “It’s just like snow.”

He lifted his foot and plunged it down with a loud crunch. “This is incredible!”

And quickly enough, Lance was hopping around in delight, inspecting his footprints and kicking the sand with a childlike excitement. Keith watched curiously, before toeing at the strange substance. He crouched down, and the sand squashed robotically. Rocking on his toes he found it strangely static, not like sand at all.

“You think it’s toxic?” Keith wandered aloud.

“Hope not!” Lance announced happily, bounding over to Keith, “I wanna make snowcones. How did you even find out about this place?”

Lance asked the question but immediately became distracted by crushing the sand into shapes Keith hoped weren’t going to end up being snowballs. Keith decided to let the question pass them by. He’d found the planet on one of his breaks from the blades. It was daytime then, and the sky was an ugly yellow formed by the too close sun, but Keith had taken one whiff of the air and was transported back to the days of Voltron, when Lance would leave the bathroom in a cloud of steam, face covered in some sort of cream that Keith pretended not to get but secretly admired. Maybe one day he’d find the courage to tell him he was sweet on the fragrance. One step at a time though. Keith was still working on revealing the extent of his feelings towards Lance and a date was a pretty big deal. It was okay to leave a few surprises.

“Ta-da!” Lance announced, hands fanned around a lump on the ground.

“What?”

“Snow castle.”

Keith squinted at the ground. It may have been dark, but he could hardly call the lump a castle. “S’more of a mound.”

Lance made an offended noise, slapping Keith’s arm. “I’d like to see you do better!”

“Alright.” Keith grabbed a fistful of sand and dumped it down.

“Dick.” Lance muttered, shoving Keith into the sand before stretching to his feet. “We’re coming back here in the light.”

“What, so I can prove you wrong again?”

“Oh no! Nope! You will not, I am the king of sandcastles! My nephew can vouch!”

Keith hummed, picking up the basket and beginning their trek towards the lake. “Think he’s biased.”

“Like you can even make castles, you lived in a desert!”

“Plenty of sand.” Keith mumbled, and Lance snorted.

“You got me there.” He said, knocking their shoulders together, “shitty dry sand is the perfect building material. Don’t know what I was thinking competing with that.”

Keith grinned, knocking him back. “Glad to hear it.”

Lance crossed his arms. It was a quiet for a whole minute before Lance spoke again. “We’re still coming back here, right?”

“Oh yeah.”

~*~

The food had been incredible, Hunk really knew his stuff. Which, being a chef, was probably a good thing. But Keith inwardly thanked him as Lance practically inhaled the garlic knots, even letting Keith feed him a few when they got a little drunker. Lance had also enjoyed the straws, swirling his drink just to see the bubbles rise and fall, marvelling at the procession. They’d finished it all now, the food and the drinks, and Keith laid back on his elbows with a warm feeling in his stomach. He felt sleepy. And cosy. Lance was leaning heavily on him, back against his arm as he stared up at the stars, the habit of twirling his straw continuing in the empty bottle propped against his knees.

“You know what any of these stars are?”

Keith shook his head. “Pretty though.”

“Yeah.”

They sat in amicable silence for a moment, gazing up at the dots. The stars weren’t the same as Earth’s. They were slightly bigger, and there were more blue ones than any other colour. But there were still a few pinks dotted around, winking at Keith like they knew something he didn’t. Lance rocked his head to the side, leaning it completely on Keith’s shoulder so that his hair tickled Keith’s neck.

“You think anyone’s named them? Or made any constellations?”

Keith considered the planet. It was desolate. Not in an ugly way, in a more ‘no sustainable life’ kind of way. “Maybe visitors have.”

“Probably not them _all_ though right?”

“Probably not.”

Lance sighed, putting the bottle down to cuddle into Keith. It was nice. Like a heavy blanket. One that made you feel safe. And breathed so softly it made you feel calm.

“I’m gonna name one.”

“Which one?”

Lance threw out his hand, pointing at any number of stars. “That one.”

“Nice.”

“Thanks.”

“What are you gonna name it?”

Lance paused, a devilish kind of hesitation. “Uranus.”

Keith turned his head. Lance met him halfway, eyes gleaming with mischievous, but Keith couldn’t work out why.

“But-“ he said, mind a tug of war between the two confusions. “That ones taken?”

Lance pursed his lips. His eyes sparkled before the whole facade fell apart and he was burying himself Keith’s chest with laughter erupting form his lungs.

“You’re right.” He said, Keith still staring down at him with having absolutely no idea what was happening. “Uranus’s taken.” Another giggle.

“I’ll find my own man.”

Lance tapped Keith’s chest before pushing it properly and then all but rolling on top of him. Keith fell back, surprised at the sudden weight. Then he found Lance staring down at him, hair falling into his face, expression wild and his tummy flipped without consent.

“What do you think I should name it then?” Lance asked, swinging his head to the side, feigning innocence - although Keith wasn’t sure why he was feigning it.

“Uhh...” Keith had never named a star before. And it was becoming hard to think when Lance had taken to tracing slow circles across Keith’s pec. “KL-2328?”

“What?”

Lance stopped moving. He gave Keith the strangest look, staring down as if he couldn’t decipher what had just happened. The boys lip was curled, and he looked like he may even be disgusted. Keith panicked.

“It’s science-y! Like how scientists used to do it on earth. With the planets outside our solar system. You know, before we left the solar system.”

“Oh.”

Lance started moving again. But it was almost like an afterthought now, like the circles were just a way of fighting off his disappointment. Keith shrunk back into the blanket, unable to shake the feeling that he’d done something wrong.

“So they’re just random numbers?” Lance asked after a moment.

Keith blushed. Full bodied. He could feel the heat all the way across his cheeks and down to the back of his neck. This seemed to catch Lance’s attention. He stopped his circles, tongue poking through his lips as he watched intently.

“It’s our birthdays.” Keith said, opting to look out into the darkness to avoid Lance’s intense gaze. And hopefully some embarrassment. “And the K and L is for us. Because we found it here. Together...”

Keith didn’t know what else to say. He was trying too hard not to combust. It was a weird thing to say. Weirder than claiming it was a jumble of letters and numbers. Why couldn’t he have named it something normal? Like Mars. Or Karen. About a second away from sliding out from underneath Lance, Keith was stopped by a hand on his cheek. 

“Keith-”

Lance traced along Keith’s jaw until his fingers could tuck into his hair. Then he curled a strand around his forefinger, twirling it a few times before coaxing Keith to look up. And when he finally did, Keith’s vision was filled with a descending Lance.

Lips met his and Keith gasped. His senses were suddenly filled with Lance. The scent of his washing powder, the tickle of his hair, the heat of his chest. The gentle push didn’t stop and before Keith could doubt anymore, he tilted forward and captured Lance’s bottom lip, swallowing it all before he could run away again.

Their noses bumped and Lance twisted into a better angle, refusing to release Keith’s lips for a second, and suddenly they were kissing properly. More vigorously. Keith grabbed Lance’s head, burying his fingers in his hair, dragging him impossibly close. Then he was rolling them over, kissing Lance into the ground as their legs intertwined. The movement released more of the sugary fragrance from the ground, and Keith inhaled it, hand sliding down Lance’s chest as the other reeled him in by the jacket. He couldn’t get enough.  


~*~  
  
Somehow, they’d made it back to Keith’s room that night. Thankfully. Keith buried himself deeper into his pillow, nosing at the lingering smell of sugar and Lance’s coconut shampoo. That’s when he noticed the bed was empty. He sat up abruptly. Scrambling for his clock, he knocked everything off his table before he could finally lay eyes on the time.

9:54am.

Lance was gone. He must have decided to let Keith sleep in, his ship back to Earth leaving early so as he could make it into work. Keith flopped back onto the mattress. Lance would be busy for weeks now. And Keith had that mission they’d been planning for several months. He flipped onto his side, wrapping himself up in the blankets. Would he even get to see Lance before he left? He’d taken the last week for granted. Lance everyday. Even if it was just at breakfast, the warmth of Lance’s presence was enough to fuel Keith for the whole day. Why hadn’t he done this sooner?

Keith crawled out of bed, pulling on his jeans and grabbing his phone from the floor. Head down, he scrolled through his contacts as he left his room.

“Whoa!”

Keith jumped back, realising he’d nearly walked straight into Hunk.

“Sorry.” He mumbled, glancing back down to his phone to check he hadn’t accidentally called anyone.

“No problem, bud.” Hunk said with a lilt of amusement. Then he poked a large finger at the device, “you know you can’t text from here, right?”

Keith turned his frown up to Hunk.

“Old ship you know?” He said sheepishly before scrambling for some excuses, “I’m getting a new one I promise! Me and Romelle are literally going out looking today! If it’s urgent you can use the main deck to radio wherever. I really don’t mind!”

“It’s fine!” Keith cut in, feeling heat rush to his face. Whatever vanilla text he was planning, he didn’t want it to be broadcast where just anyone could hear!

“Oh. OH!” Hunk clasped his hands together, not even trying to contain his excitement. “It’s a guy! Who is it? Tell me! Is it Gorna from last time? It is, isn’t it!? I knew it!”

“No! No, it’s not Gorna!” Keith rushed. It would most definitely not be Gorna, the guy who couldn’t stop talking about how many Galra he’d overthrown despite living on a planet with exactly zero Galra fighters.

“But it is a guy!” Hunk cried in triumph, “come on, tell me who?”

Keith shook his head.

“Come on!”

“No.”

“Please!”

“No I don’t want to tell you!”

Hunk took a step back. “Oh, I didn’t realise…”

He looked crestfallen. Like Keith had just killed a puppy.

“No! That’s not it!” Keith blurted out. He couldn’t stand upsetting Hunk. The guy was an expert at puppy-dog eyes. And he’d been down for so long before. Keith had hated seeing such a warm-hearted person sighing all the time and frowning when he thought no one was looking. It was physically painful. So, when just the mention of dates made him perk up, Keith had gone with the idea. In any case, it helped him consider what to do if Lance didn’t like him. Which turned out to be die alone but that wasn’t the point. Keith had figured the matchmaking gave Hunk purpose, since he was acting spritelier after just the first date. It wasn’t harmful, so Keith was happy to divulge a little of his love life. Only now he was stuck, because this thing with Lance was new and he wasn’t ready to announce it to the world. And Hunk was already cheering up with the prospect of Keith having dating luck.

“So, who?” Hunk asked, bright eyes blinking excitedly as he bounced on his toes. Keith kicked himself. He’d only just had a first date with Lance. They weren’t an item yet, and telling Hunk might scare Lance off for good, given how thrilled the guy became with just the prospect of Keith dating a stranger. If it was his best friend, he might be straight into talking wedding bells. And that could cause havoc if Lance wasn’t serious about Keith. Besides that, maybe Lance wanted to tell his best friend himself. Or maybe they’d do it together. Either way, Keith quickly decided, it wasn’t his place.

“It’s just my mom.” He said, avoiding Hunk’s gaze so the lie could set more easily. “I’ll talk to her later. No problem.”

“Oh.” Hunk seemed disappointed. Then he got his scheming face on, like he did when he was solving an engine problem. It was always a positive when he and Keith were working on a bike. Now, it filled Keith with unease. “Well, doesn’t matter because I have the perfect new date for you! How does Saturday sound?”

“A date?”

Keith didn’t like the sound of that.

“You not into that stuff anymore?” Hunk’s excitement dropped, and he bowed his head, digging his toe into the floor. Keith felt his stomach roll with discomfort. He really couldn’t stand making Hunk sad.

“A date couldn’t hurt.” He said finally, sending Hunk a smile to cover his unease

“Alright!” Hunk cried, bouncing back to life, “I’ll go tell Draxis now!”

Then he was hopping through the corridor like a happy rabbit. Keith let out a whoosh of breath. He’d just keep up the charade until he had time to talk to Lance. Then they could confess everything to Hunk. And maybe after, he and Hunk could still keep up their tradition, only Keith would be telling him about his dates with Lance and not with random strangers. One more fake one couldn’t hurt, could it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This sort of just happened and maybe should have happened at the start but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> I hope the end bit with Hunk isn't too rushed or out of place! I figured whilst we were on Keith it made sense to throw that in too, get a little sympathy for him. But I really wanted to upload this today because, fluffy dates? yes please!! ♥


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna level with you, I forgot the Garrison existed in canon in a desert

Romelle hadn’t made it far - thankfully the weather had slowed her down and she was hovering under the awning, probably debating whether to risk it and run out into the rain.

“Romelle wait!” Lance called, splashing into a puddle. He hoped he hadn’t spooked her into running like a deer, but just in case, he reached out to catch her elbow. This is where he realised he’d vastly underestimated Romelle. Just as his fingers brushed the fabric of her coat, the girl spun around. She threw Lance back, sharp finger shoved into his chest. And she kept walking, crowding him under her shadow until he hit the wall with a soft ‘oomph!’

“You!” She drew out, never letting go of his gaze with lightning charged eyes, “you’ve got a lot of nerve.”

“I know! I’m sorry!” Lance squeaked, shrinking into his shoulders “can we just ta-“

Romelle smacked his lapel.

“You’ve said quite enough this evening, don’t you think? Now it’s my turn. You.” Romelle proceeded to punctuate each word with a jab at his chest. “Do. Not. Say. Another. Word. Understand?”

Lance schooled his knee-jerk “yes” response into an affirmative hum, biting his lip and pressing his back more firmly into the wall to get a little more space to breathe. As it happened, he hadn’t needed to go to the trouble, as a moment later Romelle took a step back herself. Though Lance suspected it was only to give space for her erratic gestures.

“What in the seven stars of Lupa just happened!? I mean, I thought - you know what? I thought a lot! A lot about you Lance. So called lover boy. When we first met, you know, I couldn’t stand you.”

Lance recoiled despite himself. He knew he should be taking a bit of a beating, given what he’d just done, but still. He hadn’t been that bad in his youth, had he?

“Obviously that was because of your god-awful reputation preceding you - one that you created I might add. But we’re friends now. I thought it was all paper. I mean, at the very least, I thought you were past it.”

Romelle lowered her arms now, head following the motion as if she’d only just realised how disappointed she was. Maybe she _had_ only just realised. With all the anger from before, it was easy to miss the bare bricks this was all built upon. Lance hadn’t just pulled off some revenge plot. He’d betrayed his friend. And her disillusion sobered Lance - enough for him to notice the well forming in his stomach.

“The Lance I met flirted. A lot.” She continued, almost to herself, “but he was never uninterested. He was loyal – to everyone, not just to his partner. And he was honest. Which is what made me change my opinion of him in the first place. So, I don’t understand how that Lance could do this.”

Romelle finally looked up. “How could you do this?”

She looked almost defeated as she asked, round eyes flickering as if she secretly hoped he was an alien clone. Lance wished he were an alien clone. Then Romelle wouldn’t feel so stupid and Lance wouldn’t be guilty. Instead, he was just himself. And he felt defeated. Everything she said, he wanted it to be true. But, how could it be when he’d spent the entire evening lying, yelling and gaining triumph in the suffering of others? Lance had become everything he hated. He slumped back against the wall. “I honestly-”

“I mean who does that!?”

Oh, she wasn’t finished.

“You asked me on a date! I thought maybe you wanted to date me! Did you just think I was an easy target?”

“God no! Rom-“

“So you think you can get whoever you want!? You know what!? Not everyone finds it that easy Lance! We can’t all just ask out whoever we want. We don’t all get dates, we’re not all confident in our motions, we don’t all get asked out.”

Romelle snapped her jaw shut, eyes wild with anger. She stayed put, huffing hot breaths between them whilst Lance could only begin trying to process the outburst he’d just witnessed. Had he stepped on a far bigger landmine than previously thought? Either way, Romelle was right. Love and relationships weren’t easy and Lance was playing with all the hearts around him like porcelain juggling balls.

But it wasn’t like he was an exception to the rule, right?

He’d struggled himself. For years. Sticking his foot in his mouth in front of love interests - not even noticing his love interests! Being ignored, being rejected, being played. And worst of all, nearly all of those things applied to Keith! They’d gotten so close. Lance was within reach of triumph. And yet when the opportunity arrived, Lance had smacked it away deciding misery was best for all involved and that Wuthering Heights was a good model for life. Lance felt a twist of shame in his stomach. What was worse than watching someone getting all you wanted, than for them to not even realise how lucky they had it?

“I-“ Lance began, before coughing out the break in his voice.

“Romelle.” He said, firmly this time, “I am so sorry.”

It covered his chest like a thick syrup.

“I hurt you, I lied to you and I didn’t even have a good reason.”

Lance took a deep breath. This whole thing had been a complete mess, but he at least owed Romelle the truth.

“I might have a thing for Keith.”

He cringed at the words. It had to have been ridiculously obvious by now and yet, his cheeks still had the audacity to burn.

“But I blew it. He found someone else, or at least I thought he did. And that hurt. Like I’d been punched in the chest and it not only knocked all the wind out of me but stopped me from breathing right all together. And when I found out it was fake? I was furious. I didn’t even get excited. Didn’t give him the benefit of the doubt. I just- it was like I’d been possessed. I couldn’t see. Couldn’t feel. I was filled with this overwhelming bitterness. Everything was useless unless I could use it for revenge. I didn’t even see you as a human being. Just a prop in my play. A stupid ploy I didn’t even need. I- care for Keith. And I couldn’t even show him that.”

Lance lowered his head. Fat raindrops were falling from the roof and he stuck his toe underneath them, feeling the heavy splash even through his leather shoes. It _had_ been a stupid ploy. Why on Earth did he need to make Keith jealous? Why would he willingly hurt someone he wanted to be close to? And why would he treat Romelle like that? His mamá had raised him better than that - he had chosen to be better than that. This whole thing? It was pathetic. And Lance belonged out here in the rain feeling miserably alone.

“It’s fine.”

Lance blinked at the rain splatters. Had he heard right?

“I mean it’s not fine. I’m not saying what you did is okay, and you have a lot of work to do making it up to me. But...”

Romelle sighed, flopping into the wall next to him. “I get it.”

“You do?”

There was a hum. The rain pattered against the awning and Lance slowly turned to follow it, watching the silver strike against the blue.

“It’s not like I’m immune to jealousy.” Romelle continued, “I just- would have passed it off with a little more class.”

Lance snorted. “No doubt you would’ve.”

The tension was lighter now, like Lance could breathe and he relaxed a little.

“You could’ve told me, you know.” Romelle said quietly.

“I know.”

“But you can carry a little less guilt.” She said, wearing a little smirk, “I don’t actually want to date you.”

“Wow Mel, let a guy down easy.”

The girl laughed softly. “Sorry. It’s just- ever since Hunk rejected me,”

“Wait, what?”

Lance was off the wall in a tick. “When!? How!? Why!?”

Romelle recoiled, gaze flitting between Lance’s arms and face like a terrified woodland creature.

“I uh, well, maybe a few months ago?”

“MONTHS!”

“Uh, yeah?” Romelle scratched at her neck, hiding her face. She seemed uncomfortable but Lance was having a hard time believing the story.

“There’s just, I’m sorry, but there’s just no way.”

Romelle was blushing hard now. She coughed, standing to attention. “Lance. You are very sweet. But he rejected me and I really do not wish to discuss this.”

Lance shook his head. “No. What happened exactly?”

Romelle shook her head, flicking raindrops off her hair like tiny bugs. Lance crossed his arms and waited. The girl still refused to answer.

“Did you ask him out?”

“Yes.”

“And he said?”

“Yes.”

“So then what’s the problem!?”

Romelle let out a groan. She rolled her head around her neck, shaking her knees out before finally giving in, talking as quickly as possible.

“When I got to the restaurant the whole ship was there.”

“What?”

“Yeah! And this wasn’t even the first time! I get the message. He isn’t interested so I have to move on. That’s why I accepted your invitation! I had to start somewhere!”

“Somewhere!?” Lance exclaimed before realising he was getting off track. “Wait, so did you explicitly say it was a date.”

“That’s something you’re supposed to infer don’t you think?”

“Trust me it’s not.” Lance said, an image of a very nervous Keith clinging to a wicker basket flicking into his mind. Wow, he was dumb. The thought made him want to bury himself under a hundred blankets and never speak again. But somehow he also wanted to grab Keith and squeeze him so tight he popped. Neither were very reasonable.

“Take it from a man with experience. You have to be so clear with these things. Earth boys? Not so smart. We gotta have it spelt out to us - who’s invited, why they’re invited and what it is you want.”

And Draxis’s too, Lance thought. Although, his mistake wasn’t that huge and on any other day Lance would have counted Hunk’s arrival as a blessing. So maybe it really was just Earth boys.

“So, you don’t think I was rejected?”

“God no! Hunk can’t get enough of you!”

Romelle blushed brighter than the passing car lights and Lance couldn’t help but grin. Maybe he’d divulged a little too much private information but he was sure Hunk wouldn’t mind. He had a feeling it was going to end up fine.

“Okay.” Romelle said, nodding to herself as she took in a long shaky breath. “I need to ask him out.”

She continued nodding. “Again. Properly. The Earth way.”

She seemed to take on a look of horror. “I can’t do that. How do I do that?”

Lance grinned. This. This was something he could do.

“Romelle,” He said with formality, grabbing her shoulder in a firm squeeze. “You have come to the right place.”

~*~

It was a pleasant evening. A chill to the air but nothing more, the sky growing paler, the ground going gold. It would’ve been perfect for an amble, see the old shops in town without all the bodies rushing about. But Hunk’s ship was docked close to the Garrison and Cows Horn Meadow was the other side of town, so Lance had to take the hover bike. It wasn’t so bad, even if the air bit a little colder, Lance still liked the feeling of a wheel beneath his hands and the rumble of the engine helped him relax. He still hadn’t spoken to Keith. The thought made his stomach all wriggly. It’s not that he didn’t want to see him - quite the opposite really. He just didn’t know what to say. And he was scared of making things worse. Focusing on Romelle’s romantic problems was easier. And first thing first, Lance had to fetch Hunk.

Arriving at the docks Lance parked his bike and jogged up to the ship. He always believed it was best to get these things done quickly. And just a minute after knocking, Hunk appeared at the door.

“Lance?”

“Hey!” Lance fixed on a smile, shoving his hands in his pockets. “You doing alright?”

Hunk shrugged. He had his lips pursed and was making a valiant effort to avoid Lance’s gaze. It would have been uncomfortable if it weren’t for the fact Hunk couldn’t stop glancing back, clearly unused to the grudge process. The realisation made Lance relax a little. Hunk wanted to be enemies as much as Lance did.

“Can I come in?” He asked, nodding to the hand Hunk had on the door frame. The knuckles tightened a second, and Lance held his breath.

“You apologise to Romelle?”

“Yes!” Lance exclaimed almost with relief. “We’re cool! That’s actually why I’m here...”

Hunk considered the answer leaving Lance to fidget on the gravel a moment longer. But soon enough he was sliding to the side, leaving Lance room to hop through the door.  


“You spoken to Keith?” Lance asked once they were sat at the dining table, cups of tea in hand.

Hunk shifted in his seat, swallowing more loudly than usual.

“We spoke at the restaurant.” He said placing his cup down and staring down at the swirling liquid. Then he seemed to remember himself and blurted out “they both apologised! For the evening! And everything else...”

The boy drifted off, poking at the table top. Lance was happy to hear of the apology, but couldn’t help thinking of the unspoken words. Hunk was looking at him shyly and it revealed just how inclusive ‘everything else’ was. Lance pulled at his collar and cleared his throat.

“I-“ they both spoke at the same time. Lance sucked on his lip and nodded for Hunk to go.

“I know you got hurt.” He said carefully and Lance tried not to wince. “But I don’t think Keith meant to hurt you. I think he was trying to do good and somewhere along the way it got mixed up.”

Lance shook his head. “You don’t need to apologise for him.”

“But I do! He only dated Draxis because I set them up! If I hadn’t-“

“Hunk.” Lance interrupted, grabbing his friend by the arm. “It’s okay. Really. It was Keith’s decision. And mine too.”

Lance took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lied. To you. To Keith. To Romelle. Or even Draxis. I acted out, and it wasn’t fair on anyone.”

The room fell quiet and Lance slowly reeled his hand back in to cup his tea once again. The ceramic was warm, and the glaze smooth against his fingers. It was a comfort to hold.

“Maybe not,” Hunk said quietly, taking a sip of his drink. “But you’re human, y’know? I badgered Keith because I’m lonely. Keith lied because he didn’t want to disappoint me. You acted out because you were hurt. It’s a circle. It’s not like you blame me?”

“God no!”

“Then I don’t blame you.” Hunk said plainly, putting his drink down with a loud clink. “You apologised and you look so gosh darn guilty that I don’t think you’d even consider doing anything even remotely like this again.”

“God no! I am- this was exhausting. Never again.”

“Good.” Hunk said with finality. It was quiet again. More pleasantly. But Lance still felt an itch in his throat.

“I am sorry though.” Lance said. He knew he’d said it before, but it was important and he wasn’t sure it had really sunk in.

“It’s alright.” Hunk reassured with a wave of his hand. “I forgave you as soon as I saw you run after Romelle.”

“Really?”

“Well maybe after I got into bed and remembered your broken little face. That’s when I decided you were a scared boy in need of a hug.”

Lance swelled, he could do with a hug and instinctively lent in.

“And some stern talking too.” Hunk finished to Lance’s disappointment. “You could have avoided all of this if you’d spoken to Keith. Properly. I am willing to bet good money you didn’t actually confess to Keith that night.”

“Actions speak loud-“

“-Am I wrong?”

Lance frowned. “No.”

“There we go. And you know what your second mistake was?”

“Jumping to conclusions?”

“No!” Hunk cried, spinning in his seat to face Lance full on. “Not talking to me! I’m your best friend! At just about every point in the past four weeks if you’d just told me what was going on, how you were feeling, I could have helped you.”

Lance nodded, bowing his head. It was just so easy to keep things to himself. Not admit his darkest feelings, his deepest fears.

“I mean that was a pretty impressive disaster.” Hunk continued. “I would have done the revenge bit better.”

“What? No way! You’re a terrible liar!”

“Come on! Rule one of revenge is getting an accomplice.”

Lance made an offended noise. “I wasn’t thinking straight!”

“Well, I can’t argue with that.”

Lance punched his friend in the arm as he barked out a laugh. When the two cooled again, Lance sunk a little in his seat. He spoke quietly.

“Do you think he’ll forgive me?”

“Who, Draxis?” Hunk asked, wearing a knowing smirk, “Yeah, he’s a pretty easy going guy. Think he was one second away from grabbing popcorn though, kind of into the drama.”

“Shut up, you know I meant Keith.”

“I do,” Hunk said with a laugh. He pushed his teacup forward and leant his elbows on the table. “And I think you should ask him that.”

Lance frowned into his tea. He’d seen that answer a mile off but still, asking was like hoping, maybe Hunk would say something else. Reassure him.

“Look buddy.” Hunk said, reaching out to wrap a thick hand around Lance’s arm, “you lost control. You’re only human. And you clearly care a lot for Keith. It all just got a little misaligned. You’re a good guy at heart, and Keith sees that. Now it’s up to you both. You can leave it here, a mess that shouldn’t be touched. Or you use this experience to build something better. A relationship of communication. Of trust. Of forgiveness. You wanna be with Keith?”

“So much.”

It was like a permanent weight on Lance’s chest. Sitting in wet clothes at work after a sudden morning downpour.

“Then you’ll just have to ask Keith.”

Lance nodded silently. It seemed simple enough but changing out of wet clothes was difficult and you get colder before you warm up. Sometimes, Lance would rather just sit in them a little longer.

“Anyway! I had another reason to be here!”

“An ulterior motive?” Hunk gasped, throwing a hand to his chest. “In my ship?”

“It’s more likely than you think. Anyway, my bike’s outside and you’re coming with me. I’ve got a surprise for you at Cows Horn Meadow.”

“Oh?”

Hunk had a familiar rise in his brow. The same one he wore when he was presented a broken engine needing fixing and a haggler with ambition. He opened his mouth but Lance threw a finger against it.

“I’m not telling you anymore! Let’s go!”

Lance jumped up, pulling Hunks arm towards the door.

“Let me just-“ Hunk looked around the room, mouth pausing mid word formation, “get my coat!”

The boy quickly spun out of Lance’s reach, and sped back into the ship.

“Guess I’ll meet you by the door then,” Lance mumbled but the boy was already gone. He headed out anyway, deciding to wait by his bike instead. But something stuck in his mind. Hadn’t Hunk’s jacket been hanging behind the door?

~*~

Cow’s Horn Meadow was pretty any time of day. But early evening, when the wildflowers cast long shaking shadows between the blades of yellow grass and the crickets chirruped somewhere behind the sun, was something to behold. It was alive in a different kind of way. Bees replaced by moths flirting with the flowers, wind slapping laughing hands against your cheeks and the grass curling around your knees trying to drag you in.

But Lance turned back to his bike parked by the wooded fence. This was Hunk’s moment. And Romelle couldn’t have picked a better spot. She stood in the centre of the field, large bunch of yellow flowers in her arms, sundress whipping at her legs and a wide smile pulling at her cheeks. Hunk was stunned. So much in fact, Lance had to give him a nudge forward.

“She’s got a picnic set up. Pretty sure there’s cake and wine, wouldn’t turn down that date would you man?”

“D-date!” Hunk stumbled out, eyes suddenly wide. Lance just grinned.

“I have it on good authority that a picnic date may just make you fall in love.”

Then he pushed him forward and watched Hunk melt as he was presented with flowers and a nervous but excited Romelle showing off all the Earth clichés she’d collected in order to make it absolutely abundantly clear she wanted to date Hunk. And even from his bike, Lance could tell the guy was smitten. Hunk turned around and Lance gave an exaggerated wave.

“Have him home by eleven, Romelle!” He called out, before adding a cheeky, “and no funny business!”

The girl turned bright red, fumbling with her glass before sending him a death glare. Lance just laughed, climbing into his bike.

“I wouldn’t tease so soon,” Hunk called back, and if Lance didn’t know any better he’d say the guy had winked. Maybe the wind had messed up the words. Lance decided not to worry, pulling his helmet over his head. He didn’t hear another person coming up the path until they were speaking rather abruptly.

“Picnic, huh?”

Lance jolted. Ripping off his helmet, he whipped around, hand pulled against his chest. It took a moment for his eyes to focus on the figure in the lowlight, but when they did his heart did another jump. Keith was across from him on the track, wearing his old leather jacket and worn boots that paled in the dust. He gave a little salute, before stuffing his hand back in his pocket and leaning against one of the gate posts.

“Get the idea from me?”

Lance shrugged, lowering his helmet to his lap with shaky hands.

“Was kinda romantic.”

Keith hummed, just loud enough that it carried over on the breeze. It was quiet a moment. Lance stayed still on his bike. The wind was colder now and mussed up his hair. It was pulling Keith’s back too, leaving his neck white and expression open.

“I should have told you.” He said, looking out at the sky. It was becoming a deeper blue now, and the first star was visible but Lance paid it no mind, watching Keith speak. “About the Draxis thing. That was a really shitty thing to do.”

He sighed, returning to look at Lance and startling at the realisation he was being watched. “I’m sorry.”

Lance gave a small nod. It was all he could manage. Keith looked so sincere it made Lance’s chest ache. He should say it back. The feeling buried itself in his throat but he couldn’t seem to get it out. Keith continued to stare, so Lance cast his eyes down to his lap. He began fiddling with the buckles. What was he supposed to say? Keith was standing right there but all Lance could think about was how his heart was beating so hard it was squashing his lungs. Should he yell? Should he cry? It was like his body was a shaken bottle of soda but the cork wasn’t coming out and the glass couldn’t hold out forever.

“Lance?”

Keith’s boots crunched against the gravel. Toes appeared beside the bike wheel, then knees, then a face. Keith was looking at him again. Probably hadn’t looked away. There was something deep in his eyes. A shine Lance could ignore from the distance of the path but couldn’t miss when it was so close.  
  
“Are you okay?”

Lance hummed. He felt a lump forming in his throat and kept his eyes down. Why was this so hard? There was so much to say and all he could do was stare at the floor. He couldn’t even offer Keith his eyes. Keith. Who he cared for. Who he’d yelled at in the middle of a restaurant. Who he hadn’t spoken to in so long he missed the ease of his voice.

“I’m sorry.”

It tumbled out before Lance could even think it. Then he snifffed. Loudly. And suddenly his eyes were hot and everything was spilling out. He was crumbling, body falling in on itself as fat droplets of water spilt from his eyes. He’d ruined everything. And it was only dawning in him now how scared he was. How alone he felt.

But before the feeling could consume him whole, a weight pushed him together again. Lance found himself wrapped up in strong arms, warmth surrounding him like blankets. Keith squeezed him tight, pressing his cheek against the length of his neck.

“It’s okay.” He cooed softly, pushing a hand through Lance’s hair and pressing lips to his skin. It was so incredibly calming Lance had no idea what to do with the chaotic storm whipping around his stomach. So Lance grabbed fistfuls of Keith’s jacket and squeezed his eyes shut.

“I just-“ Lance started, hiccuping through his words, “seeing you with Draxis. After thinking you wanted to be with me. It hurt. Like getting thrown off a cliff. And then finding out it was fake was like I’d rolled down and down until I’d hit the ocean. And I thought if I made you feel my pain then I’d swim. But I just drowned.”

He was too ashamed to show his face now, but too desperate not to cling tight as he cried into the boy’s shoulder. Lance wanted Keith. More than anyone he had before and he could admit that now. But it seemed too late.

“I-“ Keith began, voice cracking close to Lance’s ear. “I really didn’t mean to hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you Lance. Ever.”

“I don’t want to hurt you either,” Lance admitted finally peeling away to look at Keith. His face felt a rush of cold and he could only imagine what a mess it must look but Keith smiled. And it made Lance’s tummy go warm.

“Then let’s start there.”

Keith leaned forward, eye lids slipping low as his lips puckered. But before they could meet, Lance ducked back, evading his kiss.

“Lance?”

“The date.” Lance said, coughing because his voice sounded too far away, as if it didn’t belong to him at all. “With Draxis.”

“What about it?” Keith asked carefully, leaning back to give Lance room once again.

“It was after.”

Keith was quiet a moment, head cocked to the side. Then it seemed to dawn on him and his eyes grew large and shone like the sky.

“Oh Lance.” It sounded like it broke him to say. “I promise you, I never saw that as a real date. It didn’t even cross my mind. It was a favour to Hunk. In my head, I was already with you.”

“With me?”

“Uhh...” Keith’s cheeks turned bright red. “I mean, I shouldn’t have made any, umm, I shouldn’t have presumed... I just-“

Lance couldn’t help a sly smile creep across his lips. Keith was floundering disastrously and Lance wasn’t too proud to say it gave him a little boost. It was about time he was the calm one. Besides, the assumption had given Lance’s heart a confident little kick. He knew deep in his heart Keith was the loyal type. But he needed to hear it just to be sure. Hunk had probably been right when he’d said that if they had just spoken they could have spared themselves the heartache. But Lance found comfort in the fact that at least they knew that now, when they were on the cusp of something new. And, for once, he knew the right foot to put forward.

“It’s okay,” Lance soothed, a lilt of amusement in his voice, “I did too.”

Keith looked confused. “Did what?”

“Assumed we’d be together. It’s why I was so thrown when I saw you with Draxis.”  
Keith winced. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Let’s just- tell each other these things from now on.”

Keith nodded slowly. Then he glanced at Lance, wearing the ghost if a smirk, “I could do that.”

Lance grinned. “Alright then.”

“What now?” Keith asked, leaning close again like he knew precisely what he wanted to do next.

“Let’s be together.”

And this time, when Keith dipped in close, Lance didn’t back away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We made it!! Thank you so much for sticking around ♥   
> This took longer than expected but I think it worked :D and yeah, did forget about the whole desert thing whoops!!
> 
> Until next time~


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